Voices of Science

John Charnley (1922-) aeronautical engineer, began his career as a researcher in the 1940s at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), Farnborough, where he was assigned to work on testing Britain's first jet aircraft, the Gloster-Whittle E28/39.  He became an expert on high speed flight before moving to lead the RAE Blind Landing Experimental Unit (BLEU), whose work eventually led tothe AUTOLAND systems used to help aircraft automatically land safely in bad weather. He later moved to managerial roles within the Ministry of Technology and Ministry of Defence (MoD), where his posts included Chief Scientist of the Royal Air Force, and Controller of Research Establishments (MoD).  Following retirement he served on the board of several firms and organisations.